ON THE DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF ROTOR-BEARING SYSTEMS USING FINITE ELEMENTS

Mohamed M. ElMadany*, Zohair S. Abduljabbar* and A.A. Al-Abdulwahab**

*Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, **ARAMCO, Riyadh. e-Mail: mmadany@ksu.edu.sa
Abstact- In this paper, a finite element model of a multibearing rotor system is presented. The effects of rotary inertia, gyroscopic moments, internal viscous and hysteretic damping, shear deformations, and axial torque have been included. The characteristics of the fluid-film bearings are represented by eight stiffness and damping coefficients which are functions of Sommerfeld number. An analytical approach, (based on a Newton-Raphson scheme and the derivatives of eigenvalues) for determining the damping critical speeds is described. A computer program is developed to determine the forward and backward whirl speeds, critical speeds, stability regions, static buckling torques, and the dynamic unbalance response of multibearing rotor systems. The accuracy of the model and the solution techniques have been demonstrated by comparison with results of previous publications. Keywords Analysis of rotors,Finite elements, Rotor-bearing systems.

INTRODUCTION With the adoption of the flexible rotor design concept in which the rotors have been designed to operate above the first critical speed, various units have developed severe operating difficulties which could not be explained by the elementary Jeffcott model. Under certain conditions of high speed operation above the first critical speed, such influences as gyroscopic effect, internal friction, and hydrodynamic bearing forces can lead to the development of a destructive non-synchronous precessive whirl motion in the rotor bearing system. In order to model the flexible rotor bearing system and to incorporate into the model the different parameters that constitute and affect rotor dynamics, two main methods have been utilized: the transfer matrix method and the finite element technique. The use of these two methods together with the recent advances on digital computers have made it possible to formulate increasingly complex rotor systems and made it feasible to obtain their numerical solutions. Both these procedures adopt a continuous representation of element parameters resulting in a relative high accuracy compared to the conventional lumped parameter modeling [1,2]. The transfer matrix method [3-5] has the advantage of small computer memory requirements. However, the equations of motion using such a method are not explicitly written and the method was found to be sensitive to system size. Besides, very large number of rotor divisions may lead to numerical instabilities [6]. On the other hand, the finite element technique requires fewer elements to provide an accurate modeling of rotor-bearing systems. In

addition, the finite element method is less sensitive to numerical instabilities and it leads to explicitly written set of general dynamic equations [2]. During the last two decades, several researchers in the general area of rotor dynamic analysis have studied the use of the finite element method for modeling rotor systems. Ruhl [1] and Ruhl and Booker [2] have included in their finite element modeling of the rotor, the translational inertia and bending stiffness only. Thomas et al. [7] developed a finite element which was more general than Ruhls in that it also included rotary inertia and gyroscopic moments. Nelson and McVaugh [8] utilized a Rayleigh beam rotating shaft and derived the element equations in both fixed and rotating frame of reference. Shear deformations have been included in the general formulation of finite element modeling [7,9,10] and used for rotor dynamic problems. Generalized finite elements including the effects of rotary inertia, gyroscopic moments, shear deformation and internal hysteretic and viscous damping have been developed by zgven and zkan [11] and Hashish and Sanker[12]. In this work, a rotor-bearing model which is accurate enough to predict the most important aspect of the flexible multi-bearing rotor system behavior is developed using finite element method. Rotor-bearing systems are modeled as an assemblage of rigid disks, shaft elements of distributed mass and stiffness, discrete bearings and flexible supports. The equations of motion of the various components are derived and the assembling procedure is described. A finite element scheme based on Timoshenko beam theory is used to produce the equations of the shaft elements. The formulation accounts for the effects of rotary inertia, gyroscopic moments, shear deformation, axial torque and internal damping. The flexibility and damping of the finite fluid-film bearings are presented by the linear bearing theory. Relations characterizing the flexible supports are presented and infused into the model. An analytical approach for the calculation of the damped critical speeds is presented. The approach employs the derivatives of the eigenvalues and applies NewtonRaphson method on the resulting matrix algebraic equation to solve it iteratively. The theoretical basis for the development of the computer program to determine the forward and backward whirl speeds, critical speeds, stability regions, and unbalance response of multi-bearing rotor systems is described. Selected numerical examples from literature are given to demonstrate the accuracy of the model and the solution techniques.

FINITE ELEMENT FORMULATION The system to be analyzed consists of three main parts: rotor, disks, and bearings. The rotor is considered to be a flexible body with distributed mass and elasticity. The disks are assumed to be thin and rigid. The bearings are modeled as linear forcing elements acting on the rotor at appropriate locations. In order to develop governing equations for the rotor-bearing system, the equations for these components are first derived, then the total system equations are obtained by assembling the equations of the individual components. Rotor Element A typical finite rotor element is shown in Fig. 1. The element is considered to be initially straight and is modeled as an eight-degree-of-freedom element: two translations and two rotations at each station of the element. The state of deformation is defined as d = [u v - ]T which can be related to the end point displacements by shape function matrix as

1 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 r1 r2 r3 r4 0 0 0 0 N= 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 r1 r2 r3 r4

(3)

The functions i and ri are given in [13]. The kinetic energy T for a beam segment with length l, including translation, rotational, and gyroscopic effects, is
T u T 0 u & & I d 0 Ip 2 + + & & l v 0 v 0 Id 1 T= dz (4) 2 T I 0 & p 0 2 0 I & p

where , Id and Ip are the mass, and diametral and polar moment of inertia, all specified per unit length of the beam. is the constant spin speed. The potential energy for the beam segment consists of elastic bending and shear energy,
T EI 0 + l 1 0 EI P= dz T 2 u kAG 0 u s 0 v 0 kAGs v

(5)

where E is the modulus of elasticity, I is the second moment of area, and denotes differentiation with respect to z. The dissipation function arising from the viscous damping effect can be expressed by
1 D= cv 2

T & T & & u 1 0 u u 0 u + & v dz & v 0 1 v v 0 & 0

(6)

Fig. 1 Rotor element coordinate system Fig. 1 Rotor element system

Hysteretic damping is induced due to a lag of the neutral stress plane from the geometrical one by an angle h, which is practically very small. The resulting nonconservative moments can be introduced into the system equations through the principle of virtual work, which is expressed by
(1)
0 EI Wh =sin h dz EI 0 0

d = Nqe where qe is a vector given by

q e =[u1 1 u 2 2 v1 1 v2 2 ]T

(7)

(2)

The matrix N contains the interpolation functions based on Timoshenko beam theory which are represented here by

The axial torque contribution to the in-phase bending moment of a beam is non-conservative, and the variational work takes the form:

WT = Ta

0 1 1 0 dz

(8)

Utilizing equations (4) through (8) with the relationship (1) in Lagranges equation, the element equation of motion is established as:

(M

e t

+ M e &&e + G e + D e q e + r q v &
e e d

) ( (K + D

+ De K e q e =f e h T

(9)

(M , M ), gyroscopic matrix (G ), velocity and displacement related effect of viscous damping matrices (D , D ), bending and torque stiffness matrices (K , K ) , and hysteretic damping matrix (D ) are listed in [13].
e t e r
e

The details of the translation and rotational mass matrices

e v

e d

e T

e h

Fig. 2 Journal model bearing Fig. 2 Journal model bearing

Rigid Disk The rigid disk is modeled as a four-degree-of-freedom rigid body. The generalized coordinates are two translations of the mass center and two rotations of the plane of the disk. The governing equations for the disk are derived in a similar fashion as the rotor element. By applying Lagranges principle to the kinetic energy expression of the disk and the unbalance forces due to the mass eccentricities of the disk, the equations of motion of the disk are

where the bearing support damping and stiffness matrices, Cb and Kb, are given by

c xx Cb = c yx

c xy k xx b , K = c yy k yx

k xy , k yy

(13-a)

& M d&&d + G d q d =f d q

(10)

and the bearing support damping and stiffness matrices, Cs and Ks, are given by c x 0 s k x 0 Cs = , K = 0 k y 0 c y (13-b)

The detail definition of the mass matrix (Md), the gyroscopic matrix (Gd), and the force vector (fd) are given in [13].
Fluid-Film Bearings In fluid-film bearings, the shaft is supported by a pressure fluid, which is produced from a laminated circumferential fluid flow. For small displacements around a stationary position it is possible to use linearized damping and stiffness coefficients for rotor dynamic analyses. The dynamic eight stiffness and damping coefficients are dependent on Sommerfeld number. The model of bearing supported by the flexible bearing support is shown in Fig. 2.

System Assembly Any rotor bearing system model can be represented by a combination of the three elements of rotor, disk and bearing. The system can be considered as being concatenated together by these elements along the z-axis. By enforcing the compatibility of the displacements and balancing of the forces at the joint, the assembled system equations are obtained.

In modeling a rotor bearing system a finite element station is normally chosen at a bearing location. Therefore, the equation of motion of such a rotor element that is in contact with the bearing is given by
& (M + M )&q& + (G + D )q + & (K + D + D K )q + C q
e t e e r e d e e e h e T e v e e

& M&&s + Cqs + Kqs q

= f

(14)

where M, C, and K are the mass, damping, and stiffness matrices of the system. The forcing vector f is the vector of unbalance forces and can be written as

s b

+ K q =f
s b

(11)

f = f c cos t + f s sin t
SOLUTION OF EQUATIONS ROTOR BEARING

(15)
SYSTEM

The bearing equation can be expressed as

& & Cbq b + K bq b + Csq b + Ksq b = f b

(12)

Whirl Speeds

Whirl speeds are fundamental to the dynamical characteristics of rotor systems. They are determined from the solution of the eigenvalue problem. Using the state variables, the free vibration of the system equation (14) can be written in state form as

In order to obtain the eigenvalue derivative with respect to the spin speed, premultiply equation (18) by
T i which results in the scalar equation T i i M* + K* i = 0

(24)

M q+K q =0
*& *
* *

(16)

where the matrices M , K and the vector q are defined as

& q s 0 M * M 0 M* = , K = 0 K , q = q M C s

Differentiation of equation (24) with respect to , and use of the biorthogonality relationship (19), leads to
M* K* T i i i + = Im Ri 0 0 M* , = where 0 C 0 0 K* = K , 0 (26)

(17)

(25)

On seeking a solution to equation (16) of the form q = et, a linear eigenvalue problem is obtained [M* + K*] = 0, with 2n eigenvalues 1, 2, ..., 2n. Corresponding to each eigenvalue i, a right eigenvector i and a left eigenvector i are defined by

( M
i

+ K* i = 0

and

T i i M* + K* = 0T

(18)
and Im is the imaginary part.

The eigenvectors satisfy the biorthognality relations

T M*i j

= R iij and T K*i j

= i R iij (19)

where Ri is the system state modal form and ij is kronecker delta. The eigenvalues are found in the form
i1 / 2 = i ji (20)

where is the whirl speed. Logarithmic decrement is defined as i = 2i i (21)

C K and , are obtained by differentiating the individual matrix elements. The process is found to converge in just three or four iterations. To implement the procedure, the user specifies some initial value for the spin speed and starting from the first mode, the method converges to the first critical speed. Once the first critical speed is known, it can be used as the initial estimate for the second critical speed determination. This process is then repeated until the specified number of critical speeds is calculated.

The matrix derivatives

Unbalance Response Consider the first order dynamical system equation

Critical Speeds Due to the bearing coefficients and gyroscopic forces, the damped natural frequencies of the rotor-bearing system depend on rotor operating speed. Critical speeds of the system are given by the intersections of the synchronous line and natural frequency curves. Hence, the critical speeds of the rotor-bearing system can be determined by finding the roots of the equation

& q = Aq + Wf
M 1C M 1K where A = , 0 I The forcing vector can be written as f = f1 eit + f2 e-it where
f1 = 1 (fc ifs ), f 2 = 1 (f c + ifs ) 2 2

(27) M 1 W= 0

(28)

F() = () = 0

(22)

(29) (30)

In order to solve this equation, Newton-Raphson method is used, which leads to

cr = * + * * = * + cr * 1

(23)

Assuming a steady state solution of equation (27) of the form q = q1 eit + q2 e-it and substituting it into equation (27) yields (31)

This process can be repeated for each critical speed until the correction cr is less than some acceptable value.

[iI A]q1 = Wf1

q = q c cos t + q s sin t
where
q c = q1 + q 2

and [ iI A ]q 2 = Wf 2

(32)

Hence, the unbalance response can be obtained as (33) (34)

and q s = q1i q 2i

modes, one with forward precession and one with backward precession, identified by the letters F and B, respectively, on the curves. The backward precessional modes of the first and second rotor modes are critically damped and are, therefore, not shown in Fig. 3. The logarithmic decrement of the first forward mode is plotted versus spin speed in Fig. 4, to illustrate the region of instability above 9000 rpm.

The resulting displacements q represent elliptical orbits for the modal points of the shaft.
NUMERICAL EXAMPLES

In order to illustrate the accuracy of the finite element model presented in previous section and the computer program developed, a simple uniform shaft which was first used by Lund [14] is studied. The system consists of a 10.16 cm diameter and 127 cm long steel shaft. The modulus of elasticity, module of rigidity and density of the shaft are 2.068x1011 N/m2, 0.79x1011 N/m2 and 7833 kg/m3, respectively.
Case1: Undamped Isotropic Bearings The shaft is supported by identical undamped isotropic bearings of stiffness kxx = kyy = 1.7913x107 N/m. Rayleigh beam analysis was performed to determine the whirl frequencies, the results are compared to that published by Glasgo and Nelson [15] for a spin speed of 4000 rpm in Table 1. The results are identical. This close agreement demonstrates the accuracy of the program in calculating the eigenvalues. Timoshenko beam analysis was also performed and the results are summarized in Table 1. As can be seen from Table 1, the inclusion of shear deformations into the free vibration analysis causes whirl frequencies to shift to lower values.
TABLE 1 Whirl Frequencies (rad/s) for Case 1 at Spin Speed of 4000 rpm.

Fig. 3 Whirl speed map

Mode No. 1B 1F 2B 2F 3B 3F 4B 4F

Rayleigh beam Ref.[15] Present Work 520.46 521.02 1093.20 1096.70 2237.80 2253.10 5058.10 5093.40 520.46 521.02 1093.20 1096.70 2237.76 2253.01 5057.74 5093.10

Timoshenko Beam Present Work 519.34 519.89 1091.60 1045.11 2227.73 2242.52 4963.64 4996.30

Fig. 4 Onset of instability for first forward mode

Effect of Internal Damping Case 2: Fluid Film Bearings

The dynamic analyses were performed for the second case, where the bearings are orthotropic with the following data: land length 0.0254 m, Diameter = 0.1016 m, clearance = 51x10-6 m, oil viscosity = 6.9x10-3 Ns/m2 and static load = 395 N. The eight bearing coefficients are determined using short bearing approximation [16]. With the rotor speed as abscissa and the damped natural frequency as ordinate, a number of modes is shown in Figure 3. Each mode actually consists of two It has been noted that material damping has a destabilizing effect on rotor systems [17]. In the following, the shaft of the previous examples is used to gain some insight into the effect of viscous and hysteretic damping on the dynamic characteristics of the rotor system.

(i) Viscous damping

Table 2 illustrates the stability of the simple rotor supported on undamped isotropic supports of stiffness kxx = kyy = 1.75x107 N/m, kxy = kyx = 0. Using a viscous

damping constant of cv = 100 Ns/m, the instability of the first mode occurs between 5500 and 6000 rpm which is the first critical speed. This mode remains unstable for higher spin speeds. It is found that the system is stabilized for the entire speed range studied by incorporating isotropic bearing damping cxx = cyy = 1.75x103 Ns/m, cxy, cyx = 0. By removing the external damping and providing anisotropic bearing stiffness of kxx = 1.75x107 N/m, kyy = 3.5x107 N/m, kxy = kyx = 0, the system stability is found to be improved and the system becomes stable for the entire speed range studied.
TABLE 2 Logarithmic Decrement for System with Internal Viscous Damping and Isotropic Undamped Bearings for a Range of Rotor Speed in rpm.

Case 3: Flexible Rotor on Flexibly Mounted Journal Bearings

The configuration studied is shown in Fig. 5. It consists of a shaft carrying a disk. The shaft is supported on two plain oil-film journal bearings, each of which is characterized by eight linearized coefficients. The bearing housings are mounted on flexible supports. The rotorbearing specifications are given in Table 4. A short bearing approximation is used to calculate bearing stiffness and damping properties. The rotor is divided into four elements of equal length. Each of the five rotor nodes has four degrees of freedom. The bearing housings are free to translate in the vertical and horizontal directions. The disk is located at the middle of the shaft. Based on the specification above, the rotor-bearing system has twenty four degrees of freedom.

2000 B F B F B F B F 0.0133 0.0057 0.0054 0.0036 0.0024 0.0020 0.0010 0.0009

4000 0.0171 0.0019 0.0062 0.0028 0.0026 0.0018 0.0010 0.0009

6000 0.0210 -0.0020 0.0071 0.0019 0.0028 0.0016 0.0010 0.0008

8000 0.0248 -0.0058 0.0080 0.0011 0.0030 0.0014 0.0011 0.0008

10000

12000

0.0286 0.0324 -0.0096 -0.0134 0.0088 0.0097 0.0002 -0.0006 0.0032 0.0034 0.0012 0.0010 0.0011 0.0011 0.0007 0.0007

(b) Hysteretic damping

Table 3 shows whirl speeds and logarithmic decrement for the system with the isotropic undamped bearings but with internal hysteretic damping (H = 0.011o). As can be seen from Table 3, all of the forward precessional modes are unstable, and all of the backward precessional modes are stable for the entire speed range. In addition, the value of the logarithmic decrement is constant for each mode. This characteristic of hysteretic damping of always destabilizing the forward modes confirms the results of Dimentbergs work [17]. It is observed that the inclusion of the external damping cxx = cyy = 1.75x103 Ns/m, cxy = cyx = 0 can also improve the stability of the system.
TABLE 3 Whirl Frequencies and Logarithmic Decrement for System with Internal Hysteretic Damping and Isotropic Undamped Bearings for a Range of Rotor Speed in rpm.

Fig. 5 Mathematical model- case 3

2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 Whirl frequencies B 520.60 520.46 520.32 520.18 520.04 519.90 F 520.88 521.02 521.16 521.30 521.43 521.57 B 1094.08 1093.20 1092.32 1091.44 1090.56 1089.68 F 1095.85 1096.73 1097.61 1098.50 1099.38 1100.27 B 2241.57 2237.77 2233.97 2230.18 2226.40 2222.62 F 2249.19 2253.01 2256.84 2260.68 2264.52 2268.37 B 5066.56 5057.75 5048.94 5040.15 5031.37 5022.61 F 5084.24 5093.10 5101.97 5110.86 5119.76 5128.67 Logarithmic decrement B 0.0073 0.0073 0.0073 0.0073 0.0073 0.0073 F -0.0072 -0.0072 -0.0072 -0.0072 -0.0072 -0.0072 B 0.0109 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 F -0.0109 -0.0109 -0.0109 -0.0109 -0.0109 -0.0109 B 0.0107 0.0107 0.0107 0.0107 0.0107 0.0107 F -0.0106 -0.0106 -0.0106 -0.0106 -0.0105 -0.0105 B 0.0042 0.0042 0.0042 0.0042 0.0042 0.0042 F -0.0042 -0.0042 -0.0042 -0.0042 -0.0042 -0.0041

It has been found that there are two modes which are over-damped but some of the higher modes are either lightly damped or unstable and therefore susceptible to wide-band excitation. The vibration levels of the steadystate response due to unbalance are shown in Fig. 6. The response magnitudes due to the residual unbalance is very large as demonstrated in the two peaks dominating the response. The computer program has been used to obtain the critical speeds. Starting from the first mode and given an initial rotating speed, the program is capable of searching the critical speeds in sequence automatically. The first critical speed is found around 1140 rpm, while the second is approximately 11580 rpm.

Table 4 Rotor Bearing System Specifications.

Rotor

Disk

Bearings land

Suspension

length diameter density mass moment of inertia polar transverse length clearance diameter bearing housing mass radial stiffness E = 2.068 x 1011 N/m2 Gs = 0.79 x 1011 N/m2 k = 0.75

1.27 m 0.1016 m 7883 Kg/m3 0.36 kgm2 0.36 kgm2 0.18 kgm2 0.02885 m 51x10-6 m 0.1016 m 5 kg 1.1x106 N/m

CONCLUDING REMARKS A finite element simulation of a multi-bearing rotor system is presented in this work. The system included the effects of rotary inertia, gyroscopic moments, axial torque internal viscous and hysteretic damping and shear deformation. Stiffness and damping of fluid-film bearings are considered in the analysis. A general computer program for determining whirl speeds, critical speeds, stability regions, static torques, and unbalance response of a rotor-bearing system is described. Comparison with the results of previous publication has been made to illustrate the accuracy of the model. Very close agreement has been obtained. An approach for finding the damped critical speeds of multi-degree-of-freedom rotor-bearing system is described. Using left eigenvectors, the problem of calculating the critical speeds is shown to be equivalent to finding the roots of a matrix algebraic equation. Then Newton-Raphson scheme is employed to obtain the roots. The program is capable of searching the critical speeds in sequence automatically. REFERENCES [1]Ruhl, R., 1970, Dynamics of Distributed Parameter Rotor Systems: Transfer Matrix and Finite Element Techniques, Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell University. [2]Ruhl, R., and Booker, J.F., 1972, A Finite Element Model for Distributed Parameter Turborotor Systems, ASME Journal of Engineering for Industry, Vol.94, p. 126. [3]Myklestad, N.O., 1944, A New Method of Calculating Natural Modes of Uncoupled Bending Vibrations Of Aeroplane Wings and Other Types of Beams, J. Aero. Sci. 11, 2, pp. 153-162. [4]Prohl, M.A., 1945, A General Method for Calculating Critical Speeds of Flexible Rotors, Trans ASME J. Appl. Mech., Vol.12, pp. A142-A148. [5]Lund, J.W., and Orcutt, F.K., 1967, Calculations and Experiments on the Unbalance Response of a Flexible Rotor, Journal of Engineering for Industry, Trans. ASME, Series B, Vol. 89, No.4, p. 785. [6]Bansal, R.N., and Kirk, R.G., 1975, Stability and Damped Critical Speeds of Rotor Bearing Systems,

Fig. 6 Steady state response for node 3

ASME Journal of Engineering for Industry, Vol. 97, No.1, pp 1325-1337. [7]Thomas, D.L., Wilson, J.M. and Wilson, R.R., 1973, Timoshenko Beam Finite Elements, Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 31, No.3, p. 315. [8]Nelson, H.D. and McVaugh, J.M., 1976, The Dynamics of Rotor-bearing Systems Using Finite Elements, ASME Journal of Engineering for Industry, Vol. 98, No.2, pp. 593-600. [9]Davis, R., Henshell, R.D. and Warburton, G.B., 1972, A Timoshenko Beam Element, Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 22, No. 4, p. 475. [10]Rough, K.E., 1977, Finite Element Analysis of Rotor-Bearing Systems with Matrix Reduction, Ph.D. Thesis, Marquette University. [11]zgven, H., and zkan, Z., 1984, Whirl Speeds and Unbalance Response of Multi-Bearing Rotors Using Finite Elements, J. of Vib., Acoustic, Stress, and Rel. in Design, Vol. 106, p. 72. [12]Hashish, E. and Sanker, T., 1984, Finite Element and Modal Analyses of Rotor-Bearing Systems Under Stochastic Loading Conditions, J. of Vib., Acous., Stress in Design, Vol. 106, pp. 80-89. [13]Abduljabbar, Z., ElMadany, M.M., and AlAbdulwahab, A.A., 1996, Active Vibration Control of a Flexible Rotor, Computers & Structures, Vol. 58, No. 3, pp. 499-511. [14]Lund, J.W., 1974, Stability and Damped Critical Speeds of a Flexible Rotor in Fluid-Film Bearings, ASME Journal of Engineering for Industry, Vol. 96, pp. 509-517. [15]Glasgow, D.A. and Nelson, H.D., 1979, Stability Analysis of Rotor-Bearing Systems Using Component Mode Synthesis, ASME Paper No.79DET-63. [16]Holmes, R., 1960, The Vibration of a Rigid Shaft on Short Sleeve Bearings, Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, Vol.2, pp 337-341. [17]Dimentberg, F.M., 1961, Flexural Vibrations of Rotating Shaft, Butter-Worths, London.